


New beginnings

by withoutfear



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: M/M, Soulmate AU, changed it a little, first fic so pls dont hate, fluffy stuff mostly, ill move onto longer stuff promise, kind of short sorry, soulmate countdown AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-11-23 20:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11409471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withoutfear/pseuds/withoutfear
Summary: Soulmate countdown AU but the countdown only appears when you turn 18This fic is very focused on boyf riends so sorry if there arent many other mentions of ships. I promise Ill start on larger fics soon.





	1. And the countdown begins

Jeremy shifts his eyes nervously.

Today was the day. His eighteenth. Possibly the first day of the rest of his life. And he was spending it in the humid school bathroom which reeks with mildew and piss. 

He checked his wrist - still nothing. It should appear anytime now; Michael's did on his eighteenth - the glowing timer beneath the wrist flesh counting down to the moment you meet your soulmate. (so did Rich’s and Brooke’s and Chloe’s and Jenna’s and literally everyone else's, it was starting to feel like he was the last of his friends to get it). 

It sounded ridiculous to believe in crap like that but since you’ve got it, might as well give it a shot, right? It wasn’t like he was doing great with getting the girls on his own.

Jeremy didn’t know what he was doing differently, he had gone through all of his dad’s drawers to find his birth certificate to confirm the exact time he was born so he could be prepared at least. He was born at 9:43am. It had just turned 9.39am and the wait was killing him. 

This was probably a bad idea, he figured. Even if his timer appeared, it probably be another month or so before it goes off so there's no real point in hide out in the bathroom. 

Just as he is about to leave, a blue light flickers beneath his skin. For a moment he forgets and fears the squip is back but then the light shapes itself and the numbers appear on his wrist

00:00:03:59  
(day/hour/min/sec)

And the timer began.

Jeremy wasn’t ready for this. Of course, he was happy it was finally happening but, still, he expected a number more like Michael’s (which was 59:12:48:41 when it first appeared). 

 

00:00:03:01

Shit. This could not go well. He can hear his heart beating in bathroom silence. How if he fucks it up with this girl. He did with Christine. Hell, he couldn’t even be a good boyfriend for three weeks before they both agreed it wasn’t working out. 

It had been so long since he last introduced himself to someone, he had almost forgotten how to do it without the awkward silence afterwards. How if she sees him and just goes ‘nah’ and walks away? Honestly, would he even be surprised? 

Can you imagine waiting forever to meet your soulmate and you end up with Jeremy Heere, full-time loser with a degree in ruining everything? If he fucks it up with his soulmate, that's it, he’s dying alone for sure. 

00:00:01:48

Crap. This is going way too quickly. He could hardly hear himself think. 

He stops himself. He shouldn't get nervous before this. Plus, he was starting to sweat and he didn't really have a jacket or anything to cover it up. 

“Calm down,” he muttered half-aloud to himself, trying to not sound crazy. He takes in a deep breath, inhaling a noseful of stale piss-filled air. He looks down at the glowing numbers on his wrist.

00:00:00:37

This is bad. Really really bad. He catches a glimpse of his reflection in the heavily vandalised mirror and cringes a little.

He woke up late this morning and didn’t have much time to get ready. His hair is half dry, which is slightly better than when he just reached school but that meant it coiled and stuck out at weird angles. His face was a far-too-pale battlefield of acne scars and eye bags, and he was starting to sweat. What a great first impression.

00:00:00:16

The slow creaking of the bathroom door opening forces Jeremy to break eye contact with his reflection.

00:00:00:09

A familiar tousle of dark hair peeks from behind the door and Jeremy feels his legs freeze over.

00:00:00:04 

“Jer?” The oh-so-familiar voice sends a shiver down Jeremy’s spine and he can’t decide if he’s more stressed or relieved. “Are you okay? Class just ended and I got your bag for you...”

“Jeremy?”

00:00:00:00

And the glowing blue numbers flicker beneath his skin and remain stagnant.

He looks up at Michael, whose smile fades into a small frown. “Are you okay? You’ve been here for awhile.” His large chestnut eyes filled with worry. 

Jeremy holds out his left wrist, showing Michael the timed-out clock on his wrist. 

“Oh,” Michael breathed, holding out the glowing blue numbers on his wrist: 00:00:00:00.


	2. Let us fall a little too hard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two small gay beans.

So there they sat, on the sink countertop, their shoulders pressed together. Michael’s hoodie seemed to radiate heat, its soft red fabric pressed against Jeremy bare arm and it made Jeremy feel more warm and at-home than he cared to admit. 

To be completely honest, this had been the day Michael had been waiting for for the longest time. Ever since they got put in the same class for math in the fourth grade, Michael has always had a thing for Jeremy (though he knew better than to tell anyone). At first, he figured Jeremy was super popular and probably kind of mean (which he hoped would help him get over him) but when they started actually talking and Michael got to know how sweet and dorky Jeremy was, he knew he was fucked. He managed to keep it hidden for awhile, and he most certainly didn't want to tell Jeremy cause it would probably do more harm than good and he didn't want to ruin the one good thing he had at the moment. In addition, he was just glad to have Jeremy back after the whole squip incident. He had always built this moment up in his head but he never imagined it would be so soon.

Jeremy didn't know what to do. A tiny part of him which was still affected by the squip, felt uncomfortable and kind of disgusting. What were people going to say? How would people react? It wasn't like their classmates were homophobic or anything, they were totally chill when Rich and Jake started dating, but it still worried Jeremy that they would give him or Michael shit about it. He didn't even feel romantically attracted to Michael (or at least he didn't notice any of those feelings).

When Jeremy sneaked a glance at Michael through the corner of his eye, he half expected him to look different, which he soon realised was ridiculous because Michael looked exactly the same. It was the same Michael. 

The same Michael who had stuck by him since the day they met. The Michael who called and visited regularly after the squip incident because he knew Jeremy could deal with it alone. The Michael who didn't shun him after he hurt him in the name of being more popular. The same Michael who knew what an idiot Jeremy was and still loved him despite. The Michael who went looking for him when he was gone from class for too long because he was worried Jeremy wasn't okay. The exact same sweet, caring, perfect Michael he met in fourth grade math class. 

Maybe this wasn't so terrible.

“Hey, Mikey,” Jeremy whispers, overestimating how soft his voice was. “How do you feel about… ditching?” Michael looks up, a wisp of hair falling over his eye and Jeremy feels his heart melt a little. “Maybe, we could go over to your place or something? Play Apocalypse of the Damned?” A smile creeps across Michael’s face.

“Thought you’d never ask,” he grinned, hopping off the counter, slinging his backpack further up his shoulder.

As they emerge from the bathroom into the hall full of students rushing for class, they head down the hallway towards the double doors. As they push their way past their anxious schoolmates, Jeremy felt warm fingertips brush past his and, without much thinking, grabbed Michael’s hand in his. Michael looked down at his hand wrapped in Jeremy’s and his breath hitched before he squeezed the other boy’s hand lightly as if to reassure him. Inside, Jeremy was screaming. This felt right. And he felt like the weight of the whole soulmate thing had been lifted off his chest. The smell of sweaty teens and excessive body spray didn’t bother him for once and Michael’s hand in his felt warm and nice. No Squip could make him feel this frickin good. 

Pushing open the heavy doors, the late morning sun beat down on them as they walked over to Michael’s PT Cruiser and loaded themselves in, breaking apart for a moment as Michael started up the car and Jeremy put on his seatbelt but quickly interlaced hands again as soon as they were out of the carpark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, im working on the third chapter so it'll be out soon. Best regards


	3. We have the rest of our lives

The ride to Michael’s house wasn’t very long; it was just down the street. When they pull up in the driveway, Michael silently sighs in relief at the fact that the lights were all off which meant his parents had already gone off to work. 

He fumbles with his keys for a bit, Jeremy’s silent watching bore through him, causing his hands to shake in either nervousness or excitement. He didn’t know which it was. 

Calm down, jesus christ, he scolds him. It wasn’t like they were going to do anything. Stop getting your hopes up. 

When Michael finally managed to steady himself enough to unlock the door, he goes down to the basement to set up while Jeremy heads to the kitchen to get some snacks. 

As Jeremy rummaged through the cupboards, he could feel himself slowly falling more and more in love with his best friend. Or maybe the feelings weren’t new; perhaps they were only surfacing. It was a pretty great feeling, it was like he was floating. Chloe had tried to explain to him what it was like to know who your soulmate was (she had found out hers was Brooke earlier this year and they haven't left each other’s side since) but he couldn't fully grasp how amazing it was until now. 

Michael, on the other hand, was more nervous than ever. It was so so stupid to be nervous because he loved Jeremy. He really did. But he couldn't help but worry about the whole soulmate thing. The last thing he wanted was to put too much pressure on Jeremy. 

“Cheez Balls or Doritos?” Jeremy called from upstairs, snapping Michael away from his thoughts. 

“Uh, Cheez, I guess,” Michael replied, trying to calm the actual fuck down. A trail of footsteps echo through the basement as Jeremy appears at the doorway. 

“Dude,” his smile flickered, as if wondering if it was appropriate in this situation. “You good?” His expression softens. “Look, if this whole thing is too weird for you, we don't have to do anything.” It slightly bummed him out to say it but he'd rather live with the pain than force Michael into something he felt uncomfortable with (especially after the squip thing). 

Michael looked up and without much thought, he finds himself leaning over, their faces colliding in a less-than-pleasant kiss, but the adrenaline and the release of it all was more than enough to send both boys into a dizzy spell. 

This was the moment Michael had been building up for the past eight years and when Jeremy kissed back, he could feel his heart swell. 

At first, it was a little messy - Michael's glasses got in the way and they didn't quite know what they were doing, but as they gained momentum, it all began to melt into place. Jeremy’s hands found home cupping Michael’s cheek, when a sudden warmth dripping onto his fingertips causes him to open his eyes. 

Michael’s eyes were still squeezed shut, tears rolling down his cheeks, his whole body shaking uncontrollably. Jeremy shifts his arms and wraps them around the other boy’s body, detaching lips for a moment. He pulls him closer, letting Michael bury his face in his shoulder, holding back his own tears. It pained Jeremy to see Michael like this; it reminded him too much of the whole squip thing and all of the shit he had put Michael through. His arms tighten around the other boy, unconsciously gripping onto the fleece of his red hoodie like his life depended on it. 

A solid five minutes pass before the moment wears itself down and Michael finally breaks away from Jeremy’s grip. 

“Sorry,” he mutters, wiping his face with the sleeve of his hoodie. “I know it was supposed to be all romantic and shit but-” 

“It’s alright,” Jeremy stops him before he could continue. “It’s okay. We’ve still got the rest of our lives for all of the romantic shit.” He lets out a lopsided smile. “Soulmates, remember?” 

Michael can't help but smile and nod. This was going way better than anything he could have imagined in eight years. 

-

When Mrs Mell came home later that evening, she found the house dark and her son and his friend, Jeremy in the basement fast asleep - still in their school clothes. It wasn’t an unusual sight. Jeremy came over alot and would often sleep over if it was a little too late. But this time, Jeremy was wearing Michael’s red hoodie with Michael curled up next to him. Recalling what her son had told her earlier that morning about his timer almost running out, she smiles to herself before switching off the basement lights and closing the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to search up discontinued snacks lol


	4. Home

“Where were you last night?” Mr Heere says as Jeremy walks in through the front door. “I don't mind if you want to stay over but at least text me before you disappear overnight.”

It was half past nine and Michael had offered to drop Jeremy off since it was a Saturday and neither of them had much to do. He had forgotten to tell his dad he was staying the night and the consequences were starting to reveal themselves. 

“Uh,” there wasn't much of a point lying to his dad, it wasn't like Jeremy didn't already have a habit of staying over at the Mell’s. “Michael's.” 

His dad lets out a little sigh (either in relief or mock exasperation) before resuming to a normal conversation. “So did you get your timer yet?” He said, remembering how excited Jeremy was to find out. 

“Yeah,” Jeremy didn't know if his dad was homophobic (he didn't really enjoy getting political)and he wasn't quite sure if he was ready to come out yet. “It ran out pretty fast though.” 

“Oh,” that was a good thing, right? “So who is it?”

A moment of silence passes as Jeremy maintains a internal debate on whether or not to mention Michael. 

“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,” Mr Heere says, returning to his breakfast. 

The moment holds for a little longer. 

You know what? Fuck it. Jeremy loved Michael and who cares if his dad wasn't okay with that (actually that would be fucking horrible but Jeremy’d rather not think about that now). 

“Michael,” he blurted out before quickly correcting himself. “It was Michael.” 

Mr Heere looked up from his pancakes, taken aback by the exclamation.

“About time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mr Heere ships it

**Author's Note:**

> there'll probably be about 3 chapters so yea


End file.
